4 Pro Tips for Creating Your Own Web Series

Regular TVWriter™ visitors know how much we love web series. Turns out quite a few sites feel the same way and as glad or even gladder (is that a word? we hope so) to share their knowledge of what makes a good web series. Mashable, for example:

by Max Knoblauch

As a comedian, entrepreneur, writer and filmmaker, it’s clear Amy Rubin has never allowed anyone or anything to pigeonhole her into one role.

After years of creating political videos on Capitol Hill, Rubin left to found her startup production company, Barnacle, creating video content for companies such as Vanity Fair and The Nature Conservancy. In 2013, she started her own web series, Little Horribles.

Little Horribles isn’t your typical web series. The slow, subtle humor of the show more closely resembles FX’s Louie than something you might find on CollegeHumor. The largest demographic of the show’s one million viewers lies in the 25 to 44 age range.

“Most of the content we produce is for this demographic that I feel is underrepresented. They’re kind of left out of the world that is YouTube,” Rubin tells Mashable. “They have indie tastes. They aren’t, like, subscribing to channels. But they are out there and I think they want content.”

For aspiring filmmakers, writers and anyone who wants to create a web series, Rubin has a bit of advice that could save you plenty of time, money and headaches.

1. Writing is paramount — don’t force it.

If someone sent this to me, would I send it to my sister? That’s my test

If someone sent this to me, would I send it to my sister? That’s my test,” Rubin says. Without an outline or a basic idea that you’re passionate about, there’s really no point to creating a web series in the first place.

“With online video, where things are shorter, I think a lot of things can be forced,” she says. The lack of time for real character development and narrative arcs can lead many creators to rely too often on tropes. Rubin tries not to force any aspect of Little Horribles….